Planting out Celeraic

[Hazel at the Hill]

My celariac seedlings are looking good, and I think that it's time to get them planted out at the Hill.



I'm worried about them not getting enough water - I know that they want plenty in order to thrive - and had a bit of a lateral thinking idea.

Could I put MPC mixed up with those water saving crystals (they're normally used in hanging baskets, I think) into the planting hole when I plant them out? Would it help retain moisture round the roots?

I'm just thinking that if we get a half decent summer (haha!) even with watering every time I'm at the Hill (most, but not every day) they might find conditions a bit dry.

What do you think?

[VirginVegGrower]

I use compost around mine as it keeps the wet in. They need to be in almost bog like conditions.

[Scarlet]

I've given up on growing them. They only grow the size of golf balls if you don't water them constantly and as I'm on a metre I generally don't bother

[veggiechicken]

Could you dig a trench and line it with newspaper to hold the water - like beans?

[bearded bloke]

Dig a pudding bowl shaped hole about 10" round x 8" deep & put an 1" thick lining of puddling clay all over,back fill & plant

[Hazel at the Hill]

Thanks all - good to see that you agree that I might be need to do something extra, rather than just bunging them out in the ground.

The water crystal gel stuff I was looking at for about £4 inc p&p says it can be used 'in vegetable plots and flower beds', but I like the idea of newspaper as it is free(!) and biodegrades.

The clay idea would work best, but I don't have any to hand/easy to source.

I'll ponder on this further.

[veggiechicken]

I've never grown them Hazel - if you remember I was scared of eating baby's heads There's one staring at me from the veg basket now
So mine was just a suggestion about water retention.

[Hazel at the Hill]

If I grow one even half-a-baby's-head then I will be v pleased, VC. Actually that sounds even more gross.

I've never grown them before - although I did have a crack at growing celery some years back - which not only was too stringy to eat, but the wine I made out of it was revolting, and couldn't even be successfully palmed off in e.g. a risotto, or a chicken casserole. Epic fail. Mind you, the wine did get 15 mins of fame on national TV, which is more than I've ever done, but that's another story.

[veggiechicken]

You know how to whet my appetite - for a story, not for the wine

[Hazel at the Hill]

I have the whole program on a DVD - if I could work out how to edit out the relevant part, then post it here, I would do. If you're itching to know, we'll have to enlist someone along those lines to talk me through it.